sermon – ‘Noah and the Flood’

Noah – big boat, lots of animals, lots of rain – just a cute children’s story? No Way! Andrew Heard preaches on the tragedy that came about as a result of mankind’s total wickedness. But good news… God is gracious and merciful, and spares the life of Noah and those connected to him, just as the lives of those connected to Jesus are spared!

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3 Responses to “sermon – ‘Noah and the Flood’”

This was a good sermon dont get me wrong, but i definitely left with more questions then when i arrived. for instance, it says in chpt6 that God was grieved that he made us and was filled with pain.. but he placed the curse on us in the first place that caused mankind to be so bad.. God making the flood is like him regretting making us.. like he admits he made a mistake and needs to fix it, but God doesn’t make mistakes!! I dont really understand what he thought wiping out mankind would do, it doesn’t wipe the sin it just creates a clean plate for man to start messing up all over again, as we have done.
and to compare Noah to Jesus.. doesn’t sit well with me. he was a great man of God with a hell of a lot of faith but that’s all.. no miracle maker or son of God. But it does make me wonder, why did it take God so many years to send us Jesus Christ?

Coming to EV for the Genesis series has been very interesting and educational but so so challenging because every wk i leave with a muddled up head. God is just so flopping complicated! I wonder if any one else has found these sermons challenging?

Hey Amanda! Firstly, it sounds like you’re considering some really important issues in terms of God and His character – I’d encourage you (all of us) to keep prayerfully reading the scriptures in seeking the God of the bible and not the ‘God of our logic’. I say this as it’s something I’ve really been convicted with over the last year or so – and I’m loving meeting God as revealed in the word, even if I don’t understand Him completely (and why would I)!

In regards to some of your comments…’he placed the curse on us in the first place that caused mankind to be so bad’ – I believe scripture teaches us it’s the other way round – in the beginning, God created us (very) good, we (our first parents) chose to believe a lie and disobey God and in doing so, sinned against God. Genesis 3 doesn’t actually say God cursed us – he cursed Satan (v14) and the ground (v17). And v 17 says the ground is cursed BECAUSE of us. So really, we are the ones that brought the sorrow of sin on ourselves – not God (which to me, makes what Jesus did on the cross unbelievable – in the sense that I believe it happened but am amazed – what a gracious God!).

As far as Andrew comparing Noah to Jesus – I definitely didn’t hear that! I heard Andrew illustrate Noah’s family being spared because they were connected to Noah, not because they were righteous but connected to the righteous one – just as we are spared by being connected to Jesus. But in the next breath Andrew said “…[Jesus compared to Noah], is the perfect righteous one, who is righteous in His own merits”. Not for a second do I believe Andrew is saying Noah is equal with Jesus (God)! Romans 3:10-26 I love how this passage bluntly lays out the problem is with us and the solution is in Jesus!

There have been some really insightful questions and answers here. Amanda, yes other people have found the sermons challenging. I am really impressed by the thoughts you are having and the approach you’ve taken to find the answers. Heaps of people (even in our church) kind of ‘go along with the flow’ even with teaching. I think that sometimes we think ‘I’m on board with this evangelical teaching stuff’ but completely ignore or do not let ourselves be challenged by God’s word.

You are in a really good place regarding your openness to admit that you don’t get it. And can I encourage us to not freak out when something from the word challenges our mindset. As Christians if we humbly come before God in prayer, knowing our creaturely limitations and honestly seeking the answers, God will reveal them. Over time he changes us through his spirit by his word. Jez had some great advice re trying to fit what we hear about God into our current logic. Sometimes it just wont fit. That’s when we need to work out if our logic is wrong or even if logic can solve the problems at all. Also, Paul warns against worldly wisdom in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.

Good question re God taking so long to send jesus. It seems that it was no after thought of God or a ‘plan B’. It seems as though ‘plan Jesus’ was always going to be the way. In fact throughout the Old Testament there are a large number of references to Jesus’ future coming. The loudest in my mind is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. This particularly predicts the suffering of God’s righteous one for the many. A promise that was to be fulfilled in Jesus’ coming, dying and rising from the dead. Many New testament writers also refer to Jesus being the fulfillment of the Old Testament (Matt5:17, 12:17, 21:4 ,Luke 21:22, John 19:28, Rom 1:2, 9:33). So why did it take so long? We don’t know why the time delay but we can be sure of the timing ‘You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly’ (Rom 5:6). We know that it wasn’t a day too early or too late. So, Did Jesus only die for those who were to believe after his death? Actually, Jesus died for all of the sin from the beginning to the end. All of history and the bible points forward to and back to Christ. Believing has always been the way to salvation (Rom 4:18-25, Heb 11). How good is God!